The Joe and Clara Tsai Foundation’s Social Justice Fund Joins Governor Hochul in Recognizing the Black Voices for Black Justice Award at NY Liberty Game, Tuesday, August 2, 2022
Leaders Recognized for Work in Education, Community Organizing, Housing, and Criminal Justice Reform
Brooklyn, NY – August 2, 2022 – The Joe and Clara Tsai Foundation Social Justice Fund will recognize the 2022 Brooklyn recipients of their Black Voices for Black Justice Award on Tuesday, August 2, 2022, as the five winners join New York State Governor Kathy Hochul at a New York Liberty Game at Barclays Center. Governor Hochul will also present the game ball prior to the start of the game.
The five winners are: Leslie-Bernard Joseph (Coney Island Prep); Bernell Grier (IMPACT Brooklyn); Afua Atta-Mensah (Community Voices Heard); Chantal Hinds (Community Voices Heard); and Kei Williams (Marsha P Johnson Institute and People’s Climate Movement).
The Black Voices for Black Justice Fund was established with the goal of addressing structural racism in America by supporting Black leaders at the national and community level. Through nominations the Fund provides strong, imaginative Black leaders with a financial award to use their voice and solutions for building a fair, equitable, and anti-racist America that better reflects the best of humanity.
This year’s winners were selected because of their work to improve social justice in education, housing, criminal justice reform and other areas that impact the Black community in Brooklyn. They have each excelled at developing innovative policies in their respective areas, with a commitment to advocacy as reflected in their unique voices in their communities.
“Social Justice is about policy and advocacy,” said Clara Wu Tsai. “These individuals each have distinctive voices that speak to a larger community and a keen understanding of the policies needed to make change in critically important areas. The Social Justice Fund is proud to partner with The Black Voices for Black Justice Fund, a coalition of 18 partners, to support the 2022 Brooklyn winners.”
Winners received $20,000 to use at their discretion to help them advance social justice in their communities.
Governor Hochul will recognize each as she joins the New York Liberty team on Tuesday, August 2 to present the game ball.
Bios of the winners follow:
Leslie-Bernard Joseph is the Chief Executive Officer of Coney Island Prep, a K-12 charter school that serves over 1,000 scholars across three campuses, aiming to train the next generation of leaders on tools to reset the vision of our country as a just racial democracy by centering the voices of marginalized communities.
Bernell Grier is Executive Director of IMPACCT Brooklyn, a nonprofit fighting against tenant displacement and advocating for affordable housing.
Afua Atta-Mensah is the Executive Director of Community Voices Heard, a member-led, multi-racial organization composed mainly of women of color and low-income families in New York who are building power to secure racial, social and economic justice for all New Yorkers.
Chantal Hinds is a policy entrepreneur at Next100 and an advocate for students in the foster care system, ensuring they have the educational support they need to succeed. Her work focuses on improving academic outcomes and narrowing the opportunity gap between students in the foster system and their peers.
Kei Williams is a queer transmasculine-identified organizer, artist, and historian. A founding member of the Black Lives Matter Global Network and a national organizer with the Marsha P. Johnson Institute and the People's Climate Movement, Williams works to transform the global culture from the individual into a systemic analysis of structural racism.
The Social Justice Fund was created by Joe and Clara Tsai to work toward racial justice and economic mobility in Brooklyn. The Fund made a $50 million commitment over ten years to make community investments in Brooklyn’s BIPOC – especially Black – community. The fund seeks to address system injustice and the root causes behind racial gaps in education, health and wealth. The fund is also committed to providing platforms that help leaders in this community elevate their voices in these areas. For more information about the fund, please visit: https://www.bksjf.org/
